Novel metabolites distinct from canonical pathways can be identified through the integration of three cheminformatics tools: BinVestigate, which queries the BinBase gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) metabolome database to match unknowns with biological metadata across over 110,000 samples; MS-DIAL 2.0, a software tool for chromatographic deconvolution of high-resolution GC-MS or liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS); and MS-FINDER 2.0, a structure-elucidation program that uses a combination of 14 metabolome databases in addition to an enzyme promiscuity library. We showcase our workflow by annotating N-methyl-uridine monophosphate (UMP), lysomonogalactosyl-monopalmitin, N-methylalanine, and two propofol derivatives.

Summary NTB‐A is a CD2‐related cell surface protein expressed primarily on lymphoid cells including B‐lymphocytes from chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and lymphoma patients. We have generated a series of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against NTB‐A and assessed their therapeutic potential for CLL. Selective mAbs to NTB‐A were further tested in functional complement‐dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) and antibody‐dependent cellular cytotoxicty (ADCC) assays in cell lines and B lymphocytes freshly isolated from CLL patients. While lower levels of NTB‐A were detected in T and natural killer (NK) cells, CDC activity was demonstrated primarily in B cells isolated from CLL patients and B lymphoma cell lines. Knockdown of NTB‐A by small interfering RNA in target cells results in lower cytotoxicity, demonstrating the specificity of the mAbs. Furthermore, anti NTB‐A mAbs demonstrated anti‐tumour activity against CA46 human lymphoma xenografts in nude mice and against systemically disseminated Raji human lymphoma cells in severe combined immunodeficient mice. Taken together, these results demonstrate NTB‐A as a potential new target for immunotherapy of leukaemia and lymphomas.

The Static 99R is an actuarial instrument that is widely used to assess the sexual recidivism risk of sex offenders. It is frequently applied in jurisdictions as a decision-making tool for release or indefinite admission to a psychiatric hospital within the jail of sex offenders. The decision to release or retain a criminal depends solely on the total score which is considered as the only independent variable. In our study, two models of Static 99R are considered: the 5-year high risk model and the 10-year high risk model. To identify the most appropriate threshold, we performed four independent methods. These are: the point closest-to-(0,1), the concordance probability (CZ), the index of union (IU), and the plot of sensitivity versus specificity. Remarkably, all four methods yielded identical results. For the 5-year high risk model, the optimal threshold is 0.184, which corresponds to a cut-off score of 5. Consequently, a score of 5 or higher implies that the offender is very likely to recidivate. Similarly, for the 10-year high risk, the optimal threshold is 0.293 which corresponds also to a cut-off score of 5.

The number of subjects infected with the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) throughout the western hemisphere increased exponentially in the later months of 2020. With this increase in infection, the number of subjects requiring advanced ventilatory support increased concomitantly. We decided to compare the survival rates between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) subjects versus non-COVID-19 subjects undergoing intubation in the intensive care unit (ICU). We hypothesized that COVID-19 subjects would have lower rates of survival post-intubation. MethodsWe screened all subjects admitted to the adult critical care unit between January 2020 and June 2020 to determine if they met the inclusion criteria. These subjects were required to be spontaneously ventilating upon admission and eventually required intubation. Subjects were selected from our electronic health record (EHR) system EPIC© (Epic Systems, Verona, WI) through a retrospective ICU admission analysis. We identified and included 267 non-COVID-19 subjects and 56 COVID-19 subjects. Our primary outcome of interest was intubation-related mortality. We defined intubation mortality as unexpected death (within 48 hours of intubation). Our secondary outcomes were the length of stay in the ICU, length of time requiring ventilator support, and proportion of subjects requiring tracheostomy placement. ResultsCompared to non-coronavirus disease (COVID) subjects, COVID subjects were more likely to be intubated for acute respiratory distress. COVID subjects had longer stays in the ICU and longer ventilator duration than non-COVID subjects. COVID-positive subjects had a decreased hazard ratio for mortality (HR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.20-0.87, P < 0.05) and increased chances of survival compared to non-COVID subjects. ConclusionsWe showed the rates of intubation survival were no different between the COVID and non-COVID groups. We attribute this finding to intubation preparation, a multidisciplinary team approach, and having the most experienced provider lead the intubation process.

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